Twilit Nightfall

Chapter 2: Hidden Meanings

"Twilight Sparkle," Luna said, this time a little less loudly, "May I come in?"

"Of course!" Twilight said hastily bowing, "But I would like to know... Why did you need permission? You're a princess, couldn't you just say 'Grr, I'm a princess, let me in' or something like that?"

Luna chuckled as she placed her cloak on the coat rack beside the door and said, "It's only polite to ask permission, even if the one asking IS a princess."

"Oh, right," Twilight said sheepishly, "Well, how about we get something to drink?"

"Already ahead of you," Spike said from the kitchen as he brought over three cups of coffee.

At the sight of the third mug, Twilight stared. Nonplussed, Spike said, "What? I want to help out. Besides, I doubt you'll be able to sleep, so me staying up and making you two coffee would be a good idea."

"I think he has a point," Luna said with a smile, "Besides, coffee sounds amazing at this moment."

Twilight sighed, then said with a smile, "Thank you, Spike. I really appreciate this."

"It's the least I can do for you, Twilight," Spike said.

"Well, down to business, I suppose," Luna said, "I believe you have been having some nightmares, is that right, Twilight?"

Twilight sighed and nodded, "So, where would you like to start?"

"Describe the dreams to me, please," Luna said.

Twilight hesitated for a moment before launching into her description, "I start off in this hallway in a huge beautiful castle. It's always a different part of the castle as well, which is about the only thing that sets the nightmares apart from one another. Before too long, these... almost canine things start chasing me. Sometimes I can get away from them for long enough to catch my breath, others I can only evade them until I can get to the throne room. When I get to the throne room, everything seems to slow down. It's almost like the things chasing me have stopped. I cautiously walk up to the throne when I stop and I'm suddenly more afraid than I've ever been in my life.... Her smoky form starts to appear and she solidifies in front of me...."

"Who appears, Twilight?" Luna asked, laying a reassuring hoof on Twilight's.

"Nightmare Moon," Twilight says fearfully, "She's always the one in the throne room. And every time...."

Twilight choked out a sob as a hoof suddenly shot to her neck. She rubbed it before bringing her cup of coffee up to her lips and taking a drink. Steeling herself, she took a deep breath and said, "Every time, she brings me in for an embrace. I actually nuzzle into her coat because I feel so safe. But then... She whispers in my ear ,'I'm sorry' before she sinks her fangs into me.... That's usually when I wake up..."

Spike sat back and drank his coffee while he listened to Twilight's explanation. He knew something was up when Twilight had started waking up screaming, but he didn't know it was this bad. Luna, on the other hand, had downed her coffee in a single swig. She listened with a morbid fascination. And a knowing look.

"Twilight, I feel I should explain something to you...." Luna said after a pause, "And I'm afraid that you will not like it."

"Right, but before that," Spike interrupted, "There's something I don't get about this while thing."

"What would that be?" Twilight asked.

"Why is Nightmare Moon in your dreams when Princess Luna is sitting right here?" Spike asked, "It doesn't make any sense. Unless Nightmare Moon really was a spirit possessing the princess."

Luna stared for a minuet before responding, "I believe that she may have attached some part of herself to you. I will need to examine your dream to be sure, however. And yes, Spike, she was a spirit."

"What about those dog looking things she described?" Spike asked curiously, "What do they mean?"

"Ah. Those," Luna said, "They are called Hellions. They normally herald extremely ill fortune upon the dreamer...."

"What about unusual happenings?" Twilight asked.

"A choice," Luna said, softly, "Between a path of light or a path of darkness. However, whenever I have seen the dreams of ponies plagued with Hellions, they chose the darkness. For some, it was for survival. Others, power. And still others, out of fear....."

Luna trailed off after she finished speaking, lost in her own thoughts. The silence in the library continued even as Spike refilled everyone's coffee. Luna opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Twilight who asked, "Is it possible to create a body for Nightmare Moon to inhabit?"

Luna and Spike were rendered speechless. Spike found his voice first, however and asked, "You really want to bring Nightmare Moon, the pony who tried to make it night forever back to life? What the hay for?!"

"I am in agreement with Spike on this matter," Luna said, "And even if it were possible, it is not something that I would do. I suppose, that since Nightmare is currently little more than a spirit, benign or otherwise, she would be able to inhabit a soul-less body.... But no, it is not possible to create a body that she would be able to possess. "

"If necessary, I can remove her influence from you," Luna added as an after thought.

"Ah," was all Twilight said before taking a drink of coffee. She looked curious about something before shaking her head as if dispelling the thought as stupid.

"Speak your mind, Twilight," Luna encouraged, "I promised you answers, and answers you shall have."

"Do you know why Nightmare Moon seemed..... Vampiric?" Twilight asked, "I thought it kind of odd that a pony would have fangs when I saw her..."

"In order to understand that, I must tell you of the Blessing," Luna replied.

"The blessing?" Twilight asked, her curiosity piqued once more, "What do you mean? Like blessing the mother of a foal during child birth?"

"Not exactly," Luna explained, "The Blessing is more of an ancient ritual that I used to make a being in to a vampire, like Nightmare Moon, and by extension, Myself. However, because Nightmare Moon was the persona in control of.... our body at the time, she inherited all of the traits of a vampire, while I simply inherited the need for blood as sustenance."

"Wait.... So you're a vampire?!" Spike exclaimed in shock, his paws shooting to the sides of his neck, "Don't drink my blood!!! I'm too young to be drained of my body fluids!!!"

Luna chuckled at the young drakes antics and said, "You needn't worry yourselves. I've no fangs to pierce skin or scale and I've already had my evening drink."

Luna opened her mouth to show that there were indeed, no fangs to speak of, just the usual herbivore teeth that most ponies had. In addition, Luna pulled out a flask with a label of O positive from her cloak. It was half empty.

"Why does that flask say 'O positive' on it?" Spike asked after he had calmed down a bit.

"Think of blood as one of your gemstones," Luna said to Spike, "They all have different tastes and scents depending on the age of the gem, the quality of the gem, and the type of gem, am I right?"

"Yes," Spike nodded, "Like how a ruby tastes like cherry, but a sapphire tastes like a blueberry."

"Yes, you've got it!" Luna said happily, "Just like your gems taste different depending on the type and such, so does blood. In my case, O positive blood, donated by ponies in their prime, tastes like orange juice with a slight carbonated sensation if it is cold, and the bite of alcohol if it is warm."

"That's.... Kind of tasty sounding, actually," Twilight spoke up as she examined the flask, "But how do you keep the blood from coagulating in the flask? A spell, right?"

"Of course," Luna said, "During our... absence, Celestia had researched the blessing and its potential side effects on me. I had written a tome or two on the Blessing in general, as a reference guide for myself and any inductees to my Blessed Circle. They were readily available before my rebellion, however, Celestia stopped their circulation and sent those of my Circle who had refused to participate in the battle into hiding, to keep them safe. The offspring of those who stayed loyal to Equestria are what make up my Night Guard today. I am getting off topic, however.... Celestia researched a way to keep my main form of sustenance from drying out. These flasks are what she eventually came up with. There are two kinds. This one, keeps the blood cool, and the other one keeps it warm. They both have a spell to prevent the coagulation of blood as well."

"That's fascinating!" Twilight said, her more nerdy habits showing, "I'd love to get a hold of one and see how the spells work!"

"As much as I'd like to give you one," Luna said with a chuckle, "I'm afraid Celestia has the ones she did not give to me, the Night Guard, or their families locked in the Vault. And in any case, I believe we ended up incredibly off topic."

"Oh yeah...." Twilight said with a blush.

"So," Spike said, "Why are you a vampire?"

"Nightmare Moon," Luna said simply, "She originally gave the blessing to herself because of the power it gave her. Unfortunately, that power paled in comparison to the Elements of Harmony. Despite it's eventual use, I originally created the Blessing as a means to fight back against the darker things in the world. It was to be used as sword and shield of the races of Equis. And, unfortunately, some of the Blessing bled over to me."

"But then Nightmare Moon happened," Spike said.

Luna nodded and continued speaking, "Yes. Nightmare Moon possessed my body and morphed it into a form similar to what you saw on the Summer Solstice those years ago. It was not until after she performed the ritual upon us that she gained the fangs and her ability to turn into mist."

"What about thralls?" Spike asked, "Where do they come into play?"

"How do you know about thralls?" Luna asked, taken aback by the amount of knowledge Spike had.

Spike flushed a little in embarrassment and scuffed the floor with a foot before saying, "Well, I do live with an obsessive compulsive egghead. Kinda natural that at least some of her habits would rub off on me, y'know?"

"I'm curious too," Twilight said, "The few books I have that mention vampires also mentioned thralls, but didn't go into any amount of detail on them. Could you tell us about them?"

"Certainly," Luna said, "Thralls are beings who have been fed upon by a vampire. Either by force or by their own will, it matters not. They are not exactly slaves, but they always feel a sort of tug towards the vampire who fed upon them. Think of it sort of like a symbiotic relationship. The thrall gains an attachment to the vampire and heals faster than normal and the vampire has a source of blood to feed upon."

"Have any vampires abused this relationship before?" Twilight asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," Luna replied sullenly, "Some vampires fed as a form of torture... Draining their thralls almost to the point of death, but left them with just enough to live, only to let them recover and drain them again. It often continued until the thrall angered the vampire and the vampire killed the thrall in a fit of blood rage."

Spike let out a low whistle and said, "Dang.... I don't envy those guys.... Can a vampire choose who they make a thrall? Or does it happen any time they feed?"

"The vampire can choose," Luna said firmly, "Choice is what the blessing is based upon and that is not something that will ever change."

"That's good to know," Twilight said, "I'd hate to be stuck somewhere and need to feed and end up making thralls every time. Just wouldn't be very productive at all."

Luna chuckled, "I suppose not. But I have to wonder.... With all this questioning about vampires.... Do you want the Blessing, Twilight?"

Taken aback by the sudden question, Twilight lapsed into a long, thoughtful silence. She had almost heard enough to write a book on the subject, to be sure, and from the pony who had created the blessing as well. Mulling the thought over and over, Twilight shook her head.

"I don't think it would be a good idea right now..." Twilight said slowly, as if choosing her words carefully, "But, in the future, it may be something to consider."

Luna was about to say something when Spike let out a huge yawn. Looking towards the clock on the wall, she said, "It has gotten quite late. I suppose it is time for everyone to go to sleep."

Trying and failing to stifle a yawn, Twilight had to agree, "I guess so... If you'd like, you can sleep here tonight, Luna."

"If you insist, Twilight," Luna said, "I will be reading down here. I am awake most nights anyway. Also, you will not have to worry about your dreams while I am here. Nightmares will not trouble you this night."

"Thank you, Luna," Twilight said sleepily as she levitated Spike in her magic. She walked up the stairs to her room and stopped at the top before turning and saying, "Goodnight, Luna."

"Goodnight, Twilight," Luna replied with a smile. She waited until she heard the door to Twilight's bedroom click closed before bringing the three cups into the kitchen and putting them into the sink. She turned and went into the living room, grabbing a pillow to lay on. She laid down in front of the fireplace and closed her eyes in concentration, her horn glowing a soft blue color.

When Luna opened her eyes again, she began her journey through the castle Twilight had described, searching for Nightmare Moon.